300 OVERLAND EXPEDITION TO SAN FRANCISCO. 



two grisly bears. It is said this animal is very numerous in 

 these parts, and not unfrequently enter the Indian villages, 

 and carry off stray children. The soil of this portion of the 

 valley is of an inferior quality, and bears but few trees or 

 plants. 



On the 12th we forded the Sacramento River, where it was 

 between three and four feet deep and two hundred yards 

 broad. It had been our intention to have disposed of the 

 horses here, and proceed down the river in canoes, but these 

 were not to be had, nor could we find suitable timber from 

 which to make them ourselves. The soil now appeared more 

 fertile, though we saw little vegetation, on account of the 

 country having been run over by fire. ■ 



Game was very plentiful, and five bears were killed in the 

 course of the afternoon. 



During the 14th and 15th we traveled over a plain studded 

 with a vast number of crater-shaped hills, which go by the 

 name of Prairie Butes. It is generally believed that each of 

 these has been a volcano. They can be seen at a great dis- 

 tance, as they have an elevation of from five hundred to 

 eighteen hundred feet ; the ground about them is strewed 

 with a great quantity of bones of animals that resort here for 

 protection during the season of the freshets, which flood the 

 whole of the level country ; a deposit of considerable thick- 

 ness covered the surface. The rocks forming some of the 

 butes were of a volcanic origin. A great number of wild fowl 

 were seen on both of these days. 



On the 17th we reached Feather River, which is a tributary 

 to the Sacramento. As we were unable to find a place where 

 it would be safe to ford it, we proceeded down its bank, and 

 at sunset we encamped near its junction with the Sacramento 

 River. It is a more rapid stream than the Sacramento, but 



